Certain as the Sun
by Demonwolf
Summary: I jus got this idea even though I have other works in progress But when an oddlydressed girl is found unconscious at the entrance to the castle, what events will unfold?
1. Chapter 1

**Certain As The Sun**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Beauty and the Beast. If I did, the play wouldn't leave Broadway and the DVD case would be set with gold. I do own some names for minor characters as well as my own characters (you'll know them)._

Who knew that fall in France could be so cold? Certainly not fourteen-year-old Claire, formally of California. Being used to the warm weather all year round, this cold air was unlike anything the girl had ever experienced. But still, being cold from the weather was better than being cold from the lack of kindness.

Still, running away to France probably hadn't been the wisest idea. Then again, Claire reasoned, exactly _where_ she would end up once she left behind her California home had been a mystery. As far as she was concerned, she would know where she was meant to be. All she had to do was follow her heart.

Claire blew on her hands and stamped her feet. Looking around the forest, she sighed.

_Right, that's it. I'm officially lost_. She had been wandering around in these woods for the entire day now, with no sense of direction whatsoever. But she had kept going; one thing was for certain, she WAS NOT going to throw herself onto the ground and start crying. She had left her home and now she was going to make a new home for herself. And nothing, not even the fact that she was lost in a French forest as the sun was setting was going to stop her!

Claire's riding boots thumped softly along the soft ground. If there was one thing Claire hated, it was wearing a dress. And for some reason, her family didn't mind that; her parents had always thought that boys and girls should be treated equally and while it would be a little odd if a boy woe a dress, her mother and father had no qualms about Claire wearing loose shirts and pants. This suited Claire and she was thankful for that. But her heart ached at the thought that even if her parents had held traditional views, they would not have noticed Claire's dress; in fact, they never noticed her at all.

Claire's stomach growled and her head thumped. She'd had nothing to eat since… well, not even she could remember. All she had on the small pack slung over her shoulder were her drawing supplies and last year's birthday present from he cousin Luke. Even now, the mere mention of her cousin's name brought tears to the teenager's eyes. Luke, the only member of her entire family who ever showed her love and kindness. Her sweet older cousin, who had been more like a brother to her. Claire bit her lip as she forced the unhappy memories back into the depths of her brain where they couldn't be reached. Luke hadn't deserved to die like the way he did, stabbed to death by some drunken men in his attempt to stop them from tormenting a young woman walking home that night. Claire had thought she would die as well after Luke's funeral, but no one paid attention to her feelings. While her family's indifferent attitudes were nothing new, Luke was not there to hug her and tell her that _he_ loved her, no matter what. Claire's green eyes closed, as she attempted to force back tears. Really, all she wanted was the warm place in her life that people called _home_. But she didn't have it.

Claire swayed a little, placing a hand on her head. She felt dizzy and completely exhausted. More than anything, she wanted to sleep, but the forest was hardly the place for it. Cold and damp and fraught with wild animals was not Claire's idea of a good place to lie down for the night. But she had to find somewhere she could stay, even if only for the night.

Opening her eyes, Claire looked up at the sky and gasped. Reaching into the sky was the turret of a castle! Never once in her life had Claire ever thought she'd see a castle. Actually, she wasn't sure she'd wanted too; to Claire, a castle had always seemed a little gloomy. With nobles and royalty marching through the halls with their noses in the air, Claire found the idea of living in a castle as cold as her own home. But now, even a gloomy palace would be better than spending a cold night under a tree.

After walking for a few more minutes, Claire approached the gates. The huge iron doors looked intimidating, but not so much that they could frighten away _this_ girl Claire allowed herself a rare smile; she was going to enter this castle and no one was going to stop her. The teenage girl pushed the door open with every last ounce of strength she had and, much to her surprise, they flew open. Claire stumbled through, breathing heavily. Suddenly, she didn't feel so good. She fell to her knees and sucked in deep breaths. But it was no use and the last thing Claire saw before she passed out was the huge castle looming over her, like a pleased cat that had just caught a mouse.


	2. Chapter 2

**Certain As The Sun**

_I'm not putting chapter names on this fic; I couldn't think of any. BTW, this fic takes place before, during, and after the spell. And while I am following the movie story line, the servants' transformations are more like the Broadway Play than the movie. In any case, enjoy!_

As the sun slowly set, a chill began to spread and a wind began to blow. Thankfully, the castle was warm and snug; perhaps even more so as the young Prince Adam had departed to spend the weekend at a Duke's castle, where a Ball was to be held, celebrating the marriage of the Duke's son. Much to their surprise, Adam's servants were not required to come along; as the Duke was renowned for having more people working for him than he needed, the young prince would be well-cared for and didn't seem to mind the fact that his trusty men wouldn't be accompanying him. He did, however, threaten to skin them all alive if one thing in his castle was out of order when he came back. While this statement was enough to send Cogsworth into hysterics, two others took full advantage of their leisure time. In fact, they had spent the whole day outdoors, despite the chilly weather and were just now heading back to the castle.

"Ah, what a glorious sunset, is it not, _cherie?_" Lumiere, the maitre d' asked, drawing Barbette, one the maids, close to him. Babette smiled and succumbed to her lover's embrace.

"_Oui,_ it is a beautiful evening, if not a little chilly."

"Ah, you are cold. Well, I know a few ways to keep a lady warm," Lumiere said with a devilish grin, pulling Babette close and kissing her deeply. Babette, though deeply absorbed with her lover's actions, chanced a look over Lumiere's shoulder and rather abruptly broke the kiss.

"_Amour?_ Is something wrong?" Lumiere asked, concerned. Babette frowned and squinted.

"Look behind you, Lumiere. There is something on the ground. Does that look like a person to you?" Babette asked growing alarmed. Lumiere turned and looked to where Babette was pointing.

"Hmmm. I cannot see too well from here. Come, _cherie, _let us go look." The maitre d' and the maid walked hand in hand down to the gates, where a small form was huddled. Once they got close enough, however, both of them ran towards the small figure as fast as they could. For there, lying unconscious on the stone brick way leading up to the castle was a young girl.

She had long black hair that fell just passed her shoulders and her skin was quite pale. She was garbed very oddly, in a loose cotton shirt and long pants. On her feet were riding boots that looked very much worn. Her clothing was torn and dirty and she looked quite thin, as though she hadn't been eating well. Lumiere reached out and gently brushed a few strands of hair from the girl's face.

"_Mon Dieu_," he gasped. "How on Earth did a girl so young come to be here all alone?"

"I don't know, Lumiere, but she's freezing. And so thin." Babette peered into the girl's face. "I don't think she's from the village, though," she added. Lumiere nodded briefly, then removed his brown coat and placed it gently on the girl's back.

"_Amour_, I'm going to get help. Stay with her, will you?"

"_Oui,_ I will."

"_Merci_." Lumiere hurried inside the castle; the girl had probably lain outside the castle for a while now and would be lucky if she hadn't already caught a cold or some other illness. In any case, he needed help and quickly.

Meanwhile, Babette had drawn the girl's head onto her lap and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Really, the child couldn't be more than thirteen or fourteen years old! What on Earth was she doing here? And where were her parents? Did she even have any? Babette sighed; they'd have to ask her when she woke. In any case, one thing was certain; no one- namely the prince or Cogsworth- was going to refuse to help this lost girl; Babette repressed a grin. While the prince would be difficult to deal with, Lumiere was probably gaining the upper hand on Cogsworth at this very moment.


	3. Chapter 3

**Certain As The Sun**

_Hello, everyone. Sorry this took me a little while to update; I just got finished with midterms. Now that they're over, I can continue with the story without feeling guilty…I think._

From somewhere above her, Claire could hear voices.

"How in the world did she ever come to be outside the castle?" _An Englishman._

"I don't know, Cogsworth. I couldn't ask her, you see." _A Frenchman._

"Oh, very witty, you-" _The Englishman again._

"Will she be okay?" _A Frenchwoman this time._

"Oh, yes. I think she'll come around soon. Why don't you stay with her until she does; she'll probably be a little nervous when she first wakes up, poor dear." _Now an Englishwoman._

The sounds of footsteps and a door shutting reached Claire's now-attentive ears. However, she knew that she wasn't alone in the room; someone, or maybe even two of the people she'd heard, had stayed behind. And even though she could tell that she was lying in a safe warm bed, she wasn't exactly willing to trust her rescuers just yet. Claire had learned, through bitter experience, just how easy it was for a person to betray your trust.

Still, she couldn't just lie here and feign unconsciousness. Might as well wake up and get the confrontation over with. Claire was thankful that she, along with the rest of her "family" back home were all fluent in French. A lot of people her father and late cousin had traded with had spoken French; as a result, Claire and her sisters were all taught the language and could speak it just as easily as they did English. Now, it would come in handy.

Hesitantly, Claire opened her emerald eyes and slowly sat up, causing some one in the room to gasp.

"Oh, you're awake!" Claire turned to see a man and a woman watching her. The woman, who had dark hair and deep brown eyes, was sitting in a chair by Claire's bed. She was wearing a maid's uniform and was clutching a feather duster. The man, who was quite tall, stood behind the woman's chair. He had golden-brown hair, a thin face and gentle brown eyes. He was dressed in the fashion of a high servant, as Claire had seen through books about royalty. While the woman was a maid, the man was obviously a valet or a maitre d'.

"_Bonjour, cherie,_" the man said, smiling at Claire. His tone was soft, as though he were speaking to a skittish animal.

"It is good to see you awake and looking so well," the woman added. "When Lumiere and I found you outside the castle, we were sure you would be stricken with an awful cold, at least. But it seems you've escaped the cold weather unscathed."

Claire nodded at the maid, but said nothing. She shrunk back against her pillows slightly, her heart thumping uncertainly. She wanted to trust these people, who seemed to have taken a liking to her, but at the same time, the thought of doing so terrified her. After all, Luke had been great friends with Jacob Rennelds, who had been one of the drunken men on that fateful night. Indeed, Luke and Jacob had been great friends nearly all their lives. And how did Jacob show his affection for his friend? By being the one to pull out a knife and, in a drunken rage, to stab Luke in the back!

"_Cherie_, what's wrong?" Claire looked up to see the man- Lumiere, the maid had called him- gazing at her with a worried expression on his face.

"N-nothing," Claire murmured almost inaudibly. Lumiere and the maid exchanged a worried look and then, to Claire's surprise, Lumiere held out a hand to her. Claire instinctively shrunk away at first, but Lumiere only laughed gently and said,

"I won't hurt you, _petite cherie._ But I am sure you'd like a hot bowl of soup at the very least. Of course, if there's anything else you'd fancy, rest assured that we'll prepare it. You look as though you haven't eaten in a week." Claire hesitated, then slowly reached out and took Lumiere's hand. He pulled her slowly to her feet and steadied her, anticipating a moment of weakness. And Claire was glad he did; she was feeling the effects of her long journey.

"Are you alright?" the maid asked, a little alarmed. Claire nodded, pushing a lock of black hair behind her ear. She noted that she was still dressed in the same clothes she'd worn when she passed out, although some one had removed her riding boots. She didn't mind though, her feet were sore enough that she didn't need to encase them in leather in order to take a walk to the kitchens.

"Right, then. This way," Lumiere said smiling as he led Claire and the maid out of the room and down the hall. Claire followed obediently and was planning on keeping silent, but was startled a bit when the maid laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I'm Babette," she said, smiling at the fourteen-year-old. "What is your name?" Claire looked into Babette's brown eyes. She could see the maid was a loving and caring person, but also some one with a sense of humor and perhaps mischief. She also noted that Lumiere seemed to be the same way; he had a devilish grin, alright, but the kindness that stemmed from him was as vast as the ocean.

_Are they husband and wife?_ Claire wondered to herself. If they weren't, she hoped they would be; they were made for each other. And it was this thought that loosened Claire's tongue

"Claire," she said softly. "My name's Claire."

"That's a lovely name," Babette said, smiling.

"_Oui._ A lovely name for a lovely young girl," Lumiere added, looking over his shoulder with a smile. Claire cocked her head slightly; no one except for Luke had ever paid her a complement before. The sensation of having positive attention suddenly bestowed upon her was a little strange, but very pleasing.

"You're not feeling sick, are you?" Claire, who had focused her attention on the ground, looked up at Babette's words.

"N-no," the girl said softly. Babette smiled kindly at her.

"That's good. I know that going awhile without eating can make you feel queasy. When _did_ you last have something to eat, Claire?"

"I… don't remember," Claire admitted, still keeping her voice low. Lumiere looked back around at her.

"My goodness, no wonder you fainted like that. Cold weather and an empty stomach? You're lucky you didn't get sick, _ma cherie._" Claire nodded, acknowledging his words. But once more, she focused her emerald eyes on the scarlet rug below her feet. It was easier to think that way.

"Ah, here we are." Once more, Claire's meditations on her new surroundings were interrupted as Lumiere halted in front of an oaken door that led into an obviously well-lit and occupied kitchen judging from the light and savory aromas drifting out from behind it. He pushed it open and stepped to the side, allowing Babette and Claire to pass first. Claire steeled herself, readying herself to be presented to the kitchen staff, and stepped through the doorway.


End file.
